4 2 1 ijll2 ARTICLE ARTICLE Indian Journal of LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS SEARCH RE RESEARCH RESEARCH Nature of English and Tiv Metatheses DOI: 10.34256/ DOI: a, * b Terfa, Aor and Pilah, Godwin Anyam a Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Aba-Abia State of Nigeria b Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria. *Corresponding author Email:
[email protected] ; Ph: 08033117647 DOI: https://doi.org/10.34256/ijll2124 Received: 1-06-2021, Accepted: 25-06-2021; Published: 30-06-2021 Abstract: Metathesis, the transposition of letters and syllables, is a minor phonological process that is found in both English and Tiv languages. This phonological process has not received much attention it deserves because most scholars considered it as a figure of misspelling which is not worthy of researching. This paper investigates the nature of English and Tiv metatheses. The objectives of this paper are to classify English and Tiv metatheses, discuss the formation of metatheses in English and Tiv and state the functions of metatheses in English and Tiv languages. This paper used comparative linguistic theory which compares the nature of English and Tiv metatheses. The researcher used participant observation tool for elicitation of data for this study. Secondary materials such as journal articles, textbooks, dictionaries and encyclopaedias and Internet sources were used. This study links phonology, historical linguistics, onomastics and language pathology (speech disorder). The study has established that metathesis has phonological, orthographic, metrical and onomastic relevance. This paper provides an in-depth material for teaching and learning of English and Tiv languages.